I’ve noticed in recent years that everything seems to be becoming dramatically more polarized, and I’m being expected to “pick a side” more and more.
I mean, it’s not like someone can have a middle of the road position on something controversial anymore- it’s got to be all-in on whatever the position is. Like I can’t have a position that generally thinks that cash bail isn’t the unmitigated evil that some on the Left think it is, without being tarred with accusations of racism and classism. Or I can’t think that EVs aren’t quite there yet, and that it’s a reasonable and normal thing at the present for people to be skeptical, or that their arguments against them are valid, without being thought of as a shill for Exxon or something.
Whether it’s here, Reddit, or real-life, it seems to me that this pressure to “pick sides” is becoming greater and greater - you have to buy into one side or the other’s entire belief system, or risk being associated with the other side.
Which is unmitigated bullshit, if you ask me. There’s no reason someone has to hold with the beliefs of either side of the socio-political spectrum. Middle views are perfectly reasonable, and this idea that if you’re not with us, you’re against us is toxic from either side of the spectrum.
I even got my original thread shut down because mentioning trans issues is apparently controversial. I didn’t say anything hateful or intolerant, but took a middle position. I’m not sure if the mods are taking a stance against controversy, or if they’re disagreeing with what I said. If it’s the former, that’s fair. If it’s the second, it’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about in this thread.
So how do we stop this socio-political polarization? I’m really tired of being expected to believe things that I don’t, and being lumped in with one side or the other if I don’t.